ONE WHEELED MOTORING

There are some that say driving a 3 wheeler is a little eccentric but how about driving a one wheeler?

 I'm not talking about Unicycles, But a motor driven wheel in which you can sit in and drive. Some months ago my Father was telling me about a Magazine that featured such a vehicle. He said it was on the front cover of a Meccano Magazine that came out during the 30s.  Well I just had to find this copy and sure enough a few weeks later I found one on E bay. I was the lucky winner and my Dad has the copy to remind him of his youth.

So What was this contraption? Did it Work and more to the point once you got going- Could you stop? Despite searching the Net I could find very little about this beast although I did find one site with a fair bit of information. This particular site has loads of information on strange transport and is well worth a look....

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/motorwhl/motorwhl.htm#big

THE DYNASPHERE

The Dynasphere was invented by a Dr  JA Purves Taunton and was demonstrated at Broocklands during the 1930s. I have reproduced the Meccano Article here. It not only provides some information on the Vehicle but also captures the spirit of the age.

 
  THE wheel has been described as the most brilliant of the inventions of Man and it is certainly true to say that the world runs on wheels, for we have traveled on wheels from prehistoric days. The chariots of the ancients and the four-wheeled carts of the Romans have been followed successively by the wagons and clumsy carriages of the Middle Ages, by the stage coach and other horse-drawn vehicles of later days and by the railway train and motor car of modern times, and with each advance there has been a great increase in speed and comfort. 

  Improvements also have continually been made in the surfaces on which these run, for the wheel and the road have been associated with each other since the beginning of civilization. The steam and electric locomotives of today run on roads formed of' steel rails, while rubber tyres enable motor cars, omnibuses and lorries to travel at high speeds on the
prepared surfaces of our highways. To some people such developments may seem to be the final stage in the development of transport on land, and these look to the air as the future highway. We may look forward to equally revolutionary changes in regard to land transport, however. The introduction of creeper track is evidence of this and motor cars and lorries equipped with these are to a large extent independent of road surfaces, so that they can be used for traveling over rough ground and for penetrating into undeveloped regions.
  

     Another invention that gives promise in this direction is illustrated on our cover, which represents what is called the "dyna sphere." This novel vehicle is the invention of  Dr. J. A: Purves, Taunton, and is capable of rolling along roads, or over fields and wild country, as easily as a ball runs along a smooth surface. The dynasphere of course is yet
in the experimental stage, but it possesses so many advantages that we may eventually see gigantic wheels similar to that shown on our cover running along our highways in as large numbers as motor cars do to-day.

     The idea of the dynasphere is very simple. The engine, transmission and bodywork form a unit that travels on rails inside a spherical cage. When the engine is in action, this unit tries to climb up the side of the cage, which is made to revolve by its weight, and thus the great wheel is impelled along the road as readily as if it were driven directly by the engine. In this case, however, there is no tractive effort at the point of contact of the wheel with the ground, and the movement is purely one of rolling. The great wheel of the dynasphere is not a complete sphere, but the median section left after the sides are cut away. and an idea of its shape can be obtained by imagining a cricket ball with the smooth-surfaced sides cut away to leave only the part enclosed by the seam. The remaining surface of the sphere also is partly cut away in order to provide the necessary visibility and the part that actually comes into contact with the ground therefore consists of a series of connected rings. These rings are 10 in number. Each is 7 ft. 6 in. in diameter and from one side of the device to the other measures 4 ft. The rings are provided with small solid leather tyres and are inclined progressively outward so as to offer as little obstruction as possible to the view of the driver of the vehicle, whose seat is in the interior of the wheel. One of the most remarkable features of the dynasphere is the low power necessary to give efficient and speedy movement. A two-cylinder air-cooled Douglas engine of 6 h.p. is installed in the experimental vehicle and a gear-box with three speeds forward and one reverse is fitted. The drive is taken through a chain to the main axle of the unit that runs on the rails inside the dynasphere. The driving wheels of this unit are only 7 In in diameter and 1 in. in width, and the rails on which their metal, edges run have Ferodo linings. Steering is simple but effective. As the dynasphere is in effect a single wheel, the driver could steer it by moving to one side or the other in order to tilt it, as is sometimes done on a bicycle.

   This of course would not be efficient and instead the driver moves the rails across the vehicle by means of gearing controlled by a steering wheel of the ordinary type. The movement of the rails tilts the great roller and causes it to turn to left or right, the unit within the vehicle meanwhile remaining upright. In trial runs the driver executed some remarkably sharp turns by leaning out on one side of the dynasphere in order to increase the effect of his movement of the steering gear.

   The dynasphere is controlled very much in the same manner as an ordinary motor car. It is braked by simply switching off the engine, when the body- work within it tends to swing backward and thus checks the movement of the sphere, and a special brake is provided to keep it stationary on a gradient.  Speeds of 30 m.p.h. can be obtained with the experimental model already built but of course much higher speeds could be obtained with specially designed dynaspheres.
  

   The vehicle travels backward and forward with equal ease. When the engine is started and first gear is engaged, the forward movement of the bodywork and engine unit as it begins to climb up the sphere is immediately noticeable. Its weight quickly sets the vehicle in motion, however, and then it returns to its normal position. Stopping the engine has the reverse effect, for then the unit begins to back up the rails and as it strives to climb up the rails its weight opposes the forward movement of the sphere. .

    At present it is impossible to say what may come of this invention, but it has so many advantages that further developments will cause no surprise. As the wheel simply rolls along  and there is no effort, and practically no wear, at the point of contact with the ground, the cost of maintenance should be comparatively low and the vehicle should be durable. The bodywork and the engine move lightly on the rails and the easy motion of the sphere itself is comfortable for the driver and passengers, and the simplicity of construction would make the vehicle comparatively cheap to build. It is claimed that the dynasphere can achieve all that is asked of passenger-carrying vehicles, and even if it is never brought into use on a large scale on the roads of civilized countries, it may prove invaluable for work in others that are not so well developed. There it will have the further advantage of making unnecessary the construction of the costly roads that are required for the heavy traffic of modern times, for there is practically no wear on the ground over which it travels, or tendency to disintegrate it, because of the easy rolling movement and the single point contact with the surface.

What Ever Happened to this- I have no Idea...